Unauthorised Absences
by perpetualpathology
Summary: Jac requests to see Zosia after HR evaluate the number of sick days she's taken recently but it turns out her presumption about the junior doctor being lazy were wrong. For the first time, Zosia sees the (only slightly) softer side to the consultant and realises that she had nothing to worry about after being called to her office.


**I wrote this short story after watching Holby last night but fell asleep before I could publish it! It's just a little oneshot between Zosia and Jac because I think their working relationship hasn't fully been explored yet so I decided to have a go. Hope you like it :)**

 **Oh, and a massive thank you to all EIGHTEEN of you who reveiwed my Zollie oneshot a few months ago! The response was amazing!**

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The one thing Zosia March needed to get her through a double shift was to run downstairs and grab a coffee in the handover between the night staff and day staff but instead she was told by a passing nurse that Jac Naylor had arrived on the ward for her shift and she wanted to see the junior doctor in her office as soon as possible. She took a deep breath and paused outside of the office to straighten out her scrubs before she tapped her knuckle on the door and waited for a response.

"Come in." Was replied and the small piece of hope that the nurse had mistaken Zosia's name for another member of staff disappeared as Zosia heard the consultant's voice so she entered the office, closed the door behind her and stood in front of the fiery red head's desk.

"You wanted to see me?"

"Not personally but HR have asked me to call you in because there's a problem with the amount of sick leave you've had recently." Jac replied without taking her eyes off of the computer screen in front of her. "Do you know the average number of days the average full time worker takes off for sick leave?"

"I wouldn't have a clue." Zosia replied quietly. She could feel her heart thumping in her chest and her pulse was racing but she knew it was only a matter of time before her boss found out the secret that was burning inside of her. She just didn't know how to bring it up.

"Four point four." Jac replied. "Do you know how many days I've had off sick this year? Zero. But somehow, you've managed to clock up twenty-six days sick leave this year. Is there a reason that would explain your absences? Or do I have to reply to HR that there's no real reason so they'll have to interview you?"

"There is a reason. It's just um… it's personal."

"Fine. If you don't want to tell me then I'll–"

"No I… I've got a condition called endometriosis." Zosia muttered ashamedly but as she looked down at the floor, she didn't notice that the consultant's eyes flashed open but she regained composure once Zosia finally managed to make eye contact again.

"Have you been formally diagnosed with it?"

"Yes."

"Then that shouldn't explain the sick leave – isn't the condition being managed?" Jac asked coldly. The consultant couldn't seem to know too much about the illness because it would raise suspicions but she was a doctor so it would seem odd to pretend she knew nothing about the relatively common disease.

"It's kind of hard to explain… I presume you know about my… about–"

"That you're bipolar?" She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes."

"What's that got to do with it?" Jac frowned.

"The primary treatment for endometriosis is stronger pain medication. But the thing is, I'm reluctant to even take paracetamol or ibuprofen because I'm on lithium carbonate and the drug interactions can be dangerous. They prescribed me naproxen first of all and I took it when I needed to but I could tell it was affecting the symptoms of my bipolar disorder." Zosia explained disjointedly. "If I don't feel right, I can't come in to work. I can't put a patient's life at risk so I stay at home and do some work for my portfolio. I know you might think that I'm being ridiculous when I say I don't feel right but trust me you don't know what I was like before I got diagnosed. I can't practice as a doctor if I'm not fully coherent."

"So let me get this straight: you're off work when you're taking the painkillers?"

"No, I don't take the painkillers at all. I can't take the pain medication so I'm in agony whenever the endometriosis flares up but the painkillers change me and believe it or not, physical pain is better than emotional turmoil. I honestly only take days off when I physically cannot make the journey into work."

"But haven't you got a doctor's note or something? Taking days off sick for a long term illness is completely different to taking a day off sick. There isn't a problem with you being off if you've got a chronic illness."

"I think I've got a letter from my gynaecologist in my locker."

"Right. And how long has this been going on for?"

"I got diagnosed around Easter; I took a week off of work as holiday while I had a laparoscopy – it's the only way of being officially diagnosed with it."

"But if it's been so long, why haven't you told me this before?" Jac asked but when she saw the look on the junior doctor's face, she realised what the problem was. "Look I know I'm not the most approachable person but I'm not unreasonable Zosia." Jac stated and the junior doctor couldn't help but give a small smile as her superior called her by her first name for once. For some reason, she seemed entirely different to her usual icy persona and she couldn't quite work out why.

"No I know but um… some people don't take the condition seriously. When I told Ollie, he joked that the women that get diagnosed with endometriosis are just women that have a low pain threshold. I thought maybe you'd think I was just using it as an excuse to take time off." Zosia admitted.

"Well we all know that Valentine is an idiot so ignore him." Jac replied bluntly. "Just scan the letter and any other documents you've got related to this and email them to me; I'll sort the problem with HR out."

"Right…" Zosia replied with a tone of confusion. It seemed she'd caught her boss in a good mood which was a rarity but she knew it wouldn't last long so she muttered something about getting on with a ward round before she pondered out of the office and headed towards the nurses station.

"What did she want?" Ollie asked as Zosia sat on the desk in between Ollie and Mo who were sat on desk chairs.

"She wanted to know why I've been off so much this year."

"And did you tell her the real reason?" Ollie asked.

"Yeah."

"And?"

"She almost sounded like she cared." Zosia quipped. "I don't know, she just didn't seem phased by it and she seemed to understand what the problem is." She replied with a frown.

"That's unusual for her." Ollie frowned. "I remember when I had the V&D bug last winter and I took three days off and when I returned it was like she thought I'd taken the time off to go on holiday." Ollie quipped. "I wonder why she was so un-Ms Naylorish… maybe she's got a soft spot for you." He suggested jokily.

"I think I know why she was considerate." Mo stated.

"Why?" They both questioned.

"No, I can't tell you or she'll serve my head on a platter and I won't get any decent theatre slots for a fortnight."

"No come on, you can't just tease us with something and then not tell us." Ollie protested. "What is it?"

"Fine. But I'll only tell you if you promise not to breathe a word about this to another living soul."

"Of course." Zosia nodded.

"Tell us." Ollie ordered as curiosity got the better of him.

"Jac's got endometriosis too." Mo whispered before she rose to her feet and wandered off with a patient's file in her hand.

"Did you know that?" Zosia asked.

"No, I had no idea." Ollie replied honestly. "Hang on, so Jac Naylor was being nice because she was being empathetic? Jac's not supposed to know the meaning of the word." He quipped.

"Valentine, are you free to take over my mitral valve replacement for Mr Lunsford at ten o'clock?" Came a sharp voice and Oliver jumped out of his skin as he turned to find his boss standing with her arms folded across her chest.

"Sure. But why can't you do it?"

"Hansen's called a meeting about Nurse Reynolds' suspension." She rolled her eyes. "In fact, Selfie Junior do you want to lead?"

"I'd love to."

"Perfect. Valentine you're assisting."

"Isn't that a little below my payload?"

"We all have to do things we don't want to do sometimes and believe me I really _empathise_ with you. Oh wait, no I can't do that because I don't know what the word means apparently." She said sarcastically before she headed towards the stairs with her long auburn hair flowing behind her.

"Note to self: Ms Naylor has the ability to suddenly appear without you realising." Ollie concluded. "Come on then, we'd better start getting scrubbed up." He sighed.

"No negative attitude in my theatre please." Zosia replied smugly as she began walking down the corridor. "And since Ms Naylor isn't joining us that means I can choose what music goes on." She grinned.

"Please don't put that crappy relaxation music on."

"Oi, it works; it helps me to concentrate."

"Yeah well it drives me up the wall."

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 **Thank you for reading this, please leave a review and let me know what you think :)**


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